Safety razor and blade magazine therefor



Feb. 17, 1948. w. STEINBACH SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE MAGAZINE THEREFOR Filed MaICh 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l OW c R fwd. O5 E TN N N/ R www@ m5 3m R M m RY.. W .1&2 MW m P. Mw m j MM, A\ W 7 ,7 pn IW l 7 j, ,i J .7 ...4 N/ 4J w/ /4 5l /Jw/ HAM/f, a/Iv( /1 9 /7 ...1., ,l Mnlq Q f w y y l /1 "4 l j H w 3.4/ mma 4, M an .um .y .f .0 .a .n a 4 a ,ha M 4 rf WU w 4 0o h Feb. 17, 1948. t W,\STE|NBACH 2,436,025

SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE MAGAZINE THEREFOR Filed March 2, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR WAP/Vfl? STE/NBCH ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 17, 1948 oFFlcle:

SAFETY- nAzoR' AND BLADE MAGAZINE y'rnEnEFoa Warner Steinbach; Maplewood," N. J. Application March 2, 1945,'Se1al No. 580,594

's 7 Claims.

`This invention relates to a magazine for double y t edge safety razor blades and means whereby such a magazine can be mounted on the razor to inject a new blade while simultaneously electing a dull one. have been proposed, but always, so far as I am aware, for use in connectionwlth razors of special construction which are unnecessarily oomplicated and expensive or which cannot b'e used with the general run of three-hole or slotted blades obtainable on the market. My` primary Vobject is to six'iplify and improve such magazines and to provide a razor for use in connection therewith which, although modiied to receive the magazine in blade injecting-ejecting position is, nevertheless, capable of use with-any standard blade in th time-honored manner. A further cbjeet of my invention is to provide improved means. for preventing contact between the magazine and the cutting edges of the blades, bothv before and during the bladedischarging oper.-

Vation; L Another object of my invention is to proyvide simple and effective means iorilocking the -inagazine in blade-feeding position on the razor -so that a new blade can be accurately and quickly -ied into shaving position while its dull predejcessor is being ejected.

vAs the standard double-edgeA safety'razor is provided with a central vthreaded stud or rod ldepending from its cap or outer clamping plate,

and also with blade-locating pins or medial bar,- likewise depending from the cap, it is impossible to feed a conventional blade into position be- 'tween the cap and guard plate without a com plete separation of the two. "As this is not feasible, the blade must be provided with a medial slot, slightly wider than the thickest stud, rod,

pinv or bar. and left :open at one end so that it can be fed into shaving position open end foremost, straddllng all obstructions-band likewise be ejected closed end foremost. Istack my openslotted blades in a magazine with the open slots all facing the discharge vend, and urge them Vany lpart ofthe magazine or razor. To this end V I provide the inner faces of the front and rearv Magazines for double-edge blades 'side 'walls of themagaz'ine.

walls of the magazine with vertical guide ribs which cooperatefwith notches in the ends of the blades t0 center the stack ofblades and so prevent contact between ythe cutting edges and the Although the for. ward guide ribs must stop short of the discharge passage and so cannot act on the topmost blade, the rear ones suffice to center that blade while in the stack. To center it during the initial stages of discharge, before its slot has embraced the near pin of the razorl cap, I provide anl additional notch in ther-'ear edge of theblade which snugly receives the forward end ofthe discharge slide and prevents anyeantin'g of the blade while being dischargedlv ,4.

, /To mount my magazine on the razor' provide a tongue on the Vformer vdesigned to enter s'ldt's in those portions of the-cap pins Vextending bellow :the guard; whereupon separation'of cap and -guard plate clamps the tongue rmly against the lower faceof the latter. y The tongue is so positioned with respecttdthe discharge passage of the magazine :andgthe slots in the pins are so 'proportioned' that when 'themagazine tongue is clamped against the guard plate, as just de.i scribed, the magazine is aligned to discharge, and the razor'to receive, a blade; the slightly exed dull blade in the razorisl in substantial 'alignment with .the discharge passage vof the magazine so thatxmovement of the slide toward the razor feeds a new blade into shaving position while simultaneously ejecting its dull predecessor. I

. As noted above, the. new bladernmust be fed open end foremost andthe dull one ejected closed end foremost. As the new blades are stacked in the magazine with their open ends facing the discharge end, they. are always in lpro per.`dis charge'position when they tongue is clamped to the'guard, and the user cannot make a mistake. This isnot true, however, withv respect to the dull bladein the razor. It would be quite pos- 'the user cantellat a glanceon which end of the guard platehe must mounthis magazine to ensure proper ejection of the dull blade.v n

I have'illustrated` and described' certain preferred embodiments ofvvmy invention in the'accompanying drawings. Nov doubt` others also could be devlsedflwithin its-purviewand these, too, are embraced,withinuniyclaims. ,i i

taken alonglire 4 4' of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a horizontal section, through the magazine alone, taken along line 5--5 of Figure 1 and looking down, 1

Figure 6 is a bottoni view of the cap, shbW ing the ends cut away to expose the ends of the blade, Y

are two coil springs 42 which support a pressure plate 43 which in turn supports a. stack of blades 44. These blades, as illustrated, are double-edge blades, each provided with a longitudinal medial slot 45 open at one end and closed at the other. The blades are stacked with their open ends facing the discharge end of the casing. The inner faces pt the front andrear walls are provided with'lvefrtical guide ribs 46 land 41 respectively. They v'ribs `46 terminate at the lower 'edge of the v d iscl'iarge passage 31, but the ribs 41 extend to the top of the casing. Each blade is provided with notches 4 6. ,at its open end designed to en `.--gage the ribs 4s, and at its dosed end with notches 41' sir nilarly designed to engage the ribs ill A" cfentral'rib 46 lies within the open end Figure 7 is a vertical elevation of the capshow= f ing the slots in the pins, Figure 8 is a top view of a razor, the c'p of which is provided with openings through nwhich Figure 9is fa plar'ifvi of- 'af-blade" designed for Figure lois transverse section of the maga- Qn an enlarged scaiegtakenaiong inte ym4n! of 1; j

gure 11 is iid'alevation' on the scale `of L lfigdre 12is adetail showing perspective the relativp'ositiors ofthenbv incomingblade and thedull 'outg'oingfneg these drawin s li'av'illstratd abonvenbn'al tw-arceatgf-zlef une Ginette type, hInodietl as I shall describe presently andbomlrinsing a cap' zo; a guard-plate' r1 'anda handle 2 2-, @lifeguard parte n'mg "i separatori-ut rmt-I "am moun eu 'n 'mena in. ther-usual; way.

ard platafand tle tie "clamping members ar parated by* turning the: 'handle counterlovkwi'a. p

I Figure 1 1 have nistratea ja' magazine-21 Ountedin bladeefedigf pe'sition on 'the razor means which; snail describe presently, but 'St I y'Shall 'describe :ti 'IIag'aziie itself 'a'.xdits bcttnn side wars, back 'nsmutin'gtfa uni- 'sho'wn trie' 'top Yal es naine over the wie-rases no be the T'ar Wall fis fits tf1-andthe inner ar move e iside walls -aarear wan ofthe'slot-45randserves not only to help center theblades, but reenforces the front wall of the casing. The pressure `plate 43 is likewise provided with notches corrsponding to the notches 4'6' and 41' as well as an additional central. n'otch Which-engages thecentral rib 46.

The slide 39 when in its'retracted position 'overlies the thick rearwall 33 'of the casing and lis"vvithiniawides1ot 49 provided for this purpose'. Inv this position the slide israt the rear of the' topmost blade: of the` stack and so is in ai position to discharge it. The .forward edge of theslide 39is providedfwith a tongue 5i which ts snugly within-a notch 52 in the'rear edge of the blade,` and thus centerstheblade during the discharge movement after the notches 41' have been moved 'out of engagement with the rib 41. When' the slideis :moved to the left through l:na-- n'ipulation of the knob 4I, the topmost blade is 'disengaged from the Vstackand moved'forward through 'the' discharge passage 31, the iow'er blades being held back by the forward wall. Dur- -in'g the dischargevmovement of the topmost blade its 'rear end Vis centered with 'refernceto the side walls of the magazine by'the action :of the -slide 39 fitting within thev notch 52, as just described.' Until the open end of `the slot 45embr'aces the near pin` 23 the forward end of the nivin'g blade is without lateral support However,- asthe distance traversed andthe time consumed are small, the centering action of the slide is `suilirient to prevent canting lof the blade and en'gagement of Iitsv cutting edges with the side walls ot-the'casing. Theslide 39 is so proportioned that it can follow the blade through the ndischarge passagef31 .until the bottom of the slot engages the near .pin-23. -When :one blade --hasbeen discharged, theslide-is returned toits Ainitial position at the Vrear-of the magazine where andlocking the magazine upon the ra'zor. Each offthe :pins y23 'is provided zwith a transverseslot 53 "which, when the `,cap :andguardf-are in f' blade- 'f clampingk position, lie 1 below-'the lower face of the Atguarx'iplate,'as shown in'Figure l. The lmagazine -'islprovidedwith a `tongue 54 extendin'grforwardly Vfromitsv front wall. This tongue isprovidedjwit-h transverse projections v55 Awhich are designed -to befslid transversely into thevslots53, asshown in A. Figures 1 'and 3, 'by a rolling .movementfof 1 the magazine, the rear edge -of''thetonguerclearing -one ofthe longitudinal-.shoulders 56 onv the lower faoefof-:the guardplataas shown infFigur'e 16.

The tongue also has anvarcuate f 'cut-.out1151 :1designedl to? receive the yupper end :of :the handle 22,

as shown in Figure 3. with projeetiois ss iying within the slots 53 thel magazine vis loosely mounted on the razor. In order to clamp it there.,

y it is only necessary to turn the-handle counterclockwise toseparate thev cap froml the guard plate, the latter being rotatable` on the handle but inseparable from it. This results in raising the pins 23, which carry `in their slots 53 the tongue 54, until the tongue is lfirmly clamped against the lower face of the guard plate andthe cap and guard plate are held in spaced parailelism. This action also releases the clamping pressure on the Vdull blade held between the cap and guard plate and permits it partly to unbend. The tongue 54 is so 'positioned with reference to the dischargepassage 31 and the thickness ofthe guard plate that when it has been clamped rmly to the lower face of the latter, as described, the

guard plate, and means for discharging a single bladeifrom the magaziney and feeding it between cap and guard plate while ejecting the dull blade.'

2. The combination Vof a double-edge safety razor and a removable blade-feeding magazine therefor; the razor comprising a cap, aguard plate and means for moving them relative to each other to clamp and unclamp a blade, the cap having depending, blade-locating pins and the guard plate having holes to receive the pins and stud, the `pins having slots located below the guard plate when cap and guard plate are in bladeclamping position; the vmagazine comprising a casing for `a stack of double-edge blades, each having, a longitudinal slot` open at one end, a blade discharge passage at one end of the magazine, the blades being stacked with their open ends facingthe discharge passage, a tongue exdischarge passage 31 is in substantial alignment .y

arebest-shown The relative positions of lon the wrong end of the guard plate, that is to say on that end' ofl the guard plate adjacent the closed end of the blade. It is, therefore,V important that the user shall know how thedull blade lies within the razor," Tovsupply himwith this knowledge, I have cut away the end portions of the cap at 58 so that the user can tell, at a glance, which is the open end of his 'dull blade and, thus informed, can mount his magazine at ,that end. In Figures 8 and 9, I have illustrated an alternatending fromthe discharge end of the magazine and designed to enter the transverse slots in the pins, whereby turning the handle to separate the cap and guard plate and releasethe pressure on I3.,'Ihe combinatiorrpf a double-edge safety 'I razor and -a `renmvable blade-feeding magazine tive method for giving this information. As x l'the blademay be described. I provide each. blade with spots of color 60, or other distinguishing "l indicia at areas adjacent its open end, these spots 6l) being so situated on opposite faces of the blade that one of them is always visibleethrough one of the windows 59 no matter how the blade is inserted. In this way the useris informed of the position of the dull blade. Or without necessarily thinking it through, he simply mounts his magazine on that end of the razor where the spot of color appears. If he does this he cant go Wrong.

Iclaim:

1. The combination of a double-edge safety razor and a removable blade-feeding magazine therefor; the razor comprising a cap, a guard plate and means for moving them relative to each other to clamp and unclamp a blade, the cap having depending, blade-locating pins and the guard plate having holes to receive the pins, the pins having slots located below the guard plate when cap and guard plate are in blade-clamping position; the magazine comprising a casing for a stack of double-edge blades, each blade having a longitudinal slot open at one end, a blade discharge passage at one end of the magazine, a, tongue extending from the discharge end of the magazine and designed to enter the transverse slots in the pins, whereby turning the handle to separate the cap and guard plate clamps the tongue against the underside of the guard plate with the blade discharge passage aligned with the dull blade in the space between cap and ric therefor; therrazor comprising a cap, a guard plateand means for, moving them relative to yeathpthento:Y clamp and unclamp a blade, the :cap having-depending, blade-locating pins and the guard plate having holes to receive the pins and stud, theA pins having slots located below the guard plate when cap and guard plate are `.in blade-clamping` position; vthe magazine com- ;prising a casing for a stack of double-edge blades, each blade having a longitudinal slot open at one end, av blade discharge passage at one end of the imagazine, the blades being stacked with their :open endsfacing the discharge passage, a tongue pressure on the dull blade clamps the tongue against the underside of the guard plate with the blade discharge passage aligned with the dull blade in the space between cap and guard plate, and means for discharging a single blade from the magazine and feeding it between cap and guard plate open end foremost while ejecting the dull blade closed end foremost; the cap having cut away portions through which the dull blade maybe seen to determine on which end of the guard plate the magazine should be mounted.

4. The lcombination of a double-edge safety razor and a removable blade-feeding magazine therefor; the razor comprising a blade-clamping cap and guard plate, and a handle on which the guard plate is inseparably but rotatably mounted, the cap having depending, blade-locating pins and a threaded stud, the guard plate having holes to receive the pins and stud, and the handle having a threaded socket for the stud, the pins having transverse slots located below the guard plate when cap and guard plate are in bladeclamping position; the magazine comprising a casing for a stack of double-edge blades, each blade having a longitudinal medial slot open at one end, a blade-discharge passage at one end 

